The Love of Four
by DaddysCowgirl94
Summary: We all know the story: they leave, and come back a year later. But what happens in that time? Narnia went 1,000  yrs without their Kings and Queens, but what about the Pevensies? Well, here's your chance to find out. Series of one-shots. T for safety.


_****_**Hello, everyone! I hope you all are having a great New Year so far!**

**Okay, so I got this idea a few days ago, and I started writing it down, but I couldn't  
>wait to get it up here! Unfortunately, this is going to be another of my bad habits,<br>where I start a story and then kind of leave it in the dirt for a while. But, I fully intend to  
>fix that. Call it my "New Year's Resolution," if you will, though I generally try to avoid that particular term...<strong>

**Haha anyways, this is going to be a series of one-shots from each character, based on how  
>they are coping with life in England, versus what they would be doing in Narnia at that time. These will be<br>told in the form of memories, conversations, or flashbacks.**

**I'm kind of excited to see where this goes- I don't really have a plan, right now. If you'd like,  
>give me a suggestion of what you'd like to see =). You'll get the picture as you read, hopefully. <strong>

**A/N: The idea behind this chapter is that Peter, Susan, and Edmund are going away to  
>boarding school. Lucy's left at home for her last year in grammar school, and she's slightly afraid.<strong>

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><p><em><strong>Prologue<strong>_

"Edmund?" Edmund Pevensie opened his eyes- he hadn't really been sleeping, though he had been trying to.

"Hey, Lu," he said quietly, sitting up. "Can't sleep?" Lucy shook her golden head slowly. Edmund patted the bed beside him. "What fiend hinders thee from blissful slumber, my Queen?" he asked. Lucy smiled softly- he knew that her spirits would lift if they spoke in the formal lilt of Narnian court- it made her feel as if she were closer to the beloved land she had left behind.

"Fear," she sighed. "Fear doth prevent me from closing my eyes."

"Fear?" Edmund asked, shocked. His sister was _not _one to be afraid- he had seen her stand her ground against a dozen thugs, without quailing. What could possibly have her so afraid that she couldn't sleep?

"Fear of the morrow," Lucy elaborated. "I fear the solitude, Sire."

"What is there to fear?" Edmund asked haughtily, putting on his best show of comical overconfidence. He had hoped to make Lucy laugh- if she could laugh now, all her fears would be forgotten. But the Valiant Queen only sniffed and looked around.

"Does the High King sleep soundly this eve?" she asked softly. Edmund snorted.

"My fair Lady," he replied, "thou knowest that our royal brother would sleep through a hurricane ripping the Cair apart. Fear not- we are alone. What dost thou fear, my Valiant Lady? What gives Solitude the right to frighten thee?"

"Oh, Ed!" Lucy sobbed, abandoning her courtly speech, "I'm to be left behind, with no one but Mother! What am I supposed to do without all of you?"

Edmund said nothing. Instead, he put his arm around Lucy's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She leaned into his embrace without resistance, and he knew that this was what she needed. They sat in silence for a while. Eventually, Ed began to hum an old Narnian lullaby.

It pained the Just King to see his baby sister feeling so small. Lucy had been the only thing keeping the four siblings from losing their minds when they had come back to This World. When Peter snapped at her, she smiled and petted his hand, as she always had to comfort her siblings. The High King would push her away, but Lucy kept coming back, always happy, always forgiving, never holding a grudge. When Susan feared she was forgetting Narnia- or worse, when she _tried _to forget- Lucy would talk about all of the adventures the siblings had when they were Kings and Queens, of how Susan could never keep her suitors away for long, or of the way the apple orchards had swayed in the breeze as they tickled the walls of Cair Paravel.

And when Edmund fell to guilt- the guilt of all his past sins, though One usually predominated- Lucy was the one to remind him of Who had forgiven him, and what He had gone through to pay his price. It was Lucy who recognized the signs of Edmund's brooding, and it was Lucy that kept him sane when he thought grief would consume him.

Honestly, Edmund wasn't worried about Lucy one bit. Lucy was strong, and Lucy would come out of her "solitude" with even more faith than she'd ever had, if that were possible.

No, Edmund wasn't worried about Lucy. He was, however, worried about himself and his older siblings. What would this year do to them? And if Lucy wasn't there to keep the three grounded? Would they all fall into their own pits of darkness? For Lucy- though he doubted Susan and Peter knew it, and he _knew_ that the Valiant Queen herself was oblivious- was the only thing keeping the older three from falling into their personal abysses of despair. She was their Albatross, the Gift sent from Aslan Himself to guide the Magnificent, the Gentle, and the Just true. A full year without _her_? Would they survive?

"You'll do perfectly fine, Lucy," Edmund said confidently. He waited for an answer, but when he looked down, Lucy was asleep.

The king smiled and gently lifted his baby sister, effortlessly gliding from the room he shared with Peter to the room Lucy shared with Susan. Lu hadn't made her bed up when she had entered Edmund's room, so he simply lay the little girl down on the mattress and pulled the covers over her. He smoothed her hair from her face and kissed her forehead before closing the door and returning to his own bed. This time, he fell asleep instantly.

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><p><strong>This is just the prologue, so there isn't a flashback in this chapter.<strong> **There will be  
>in the next, though.<strong>

**So... yeah. I don't know how often I'll be able to post, so don't get your hopes up, please )=**

**Oh, and if you want, check out my profile! I've written a few other Narnian fics, and I think  
>they are decent... of course, my opinion might be <em>slightly<em> biased. So you should go check it  
>out to make sure my opinion is well-founded =D<strong>

**Okay, enough rambling. I hope you enjoyed! Please leave feedback and/or ideas for flashbacks!  
>I have a few, but they're going to run out fast! <strong>

**Forever His,**

**~Daddyscowgirl94~  
><strong>


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